Event Highlights

Sai Praneeth vs Kento Momota, World Badminton Championships Semi-final HIGHLIGHTS:B Sai Praneeth settles for bronze after losing 13-21, 8-21 to world No.1 and defending champion Kento Momota in the men's singles semi-final of the BWF World Championships 2019 at St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland, on Saturday. Praneeth made a bright start to the match but once Momota upped the level of the match, Praneeth failed to find a way back as the Japanese raced to the final in just 42 minutes. Earlier, PV Sindhu stormed into her third straight final at the worlds with a dominating 21-7, 21-14 win over China's Chen Yufei.

Sai Praneeth has already created history by becoming the first men's singles player since Prakash Padukone in 1983 to win a medal at the World Championships after he defeated world No.4 Jonatan Christie 24-22, 21-14 in the quarter-final on Friday. However, his dream of becoming the first Indian men's singles player to win a silver medal will have to wait.

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Aug 24, 2019 5:29 pm (IST)

Kento Momota demolishes Sai Praneeth 21-13, 21-8 to advance to the final of World Championships while the Indian settles for bronze. Praneeth is only the second Indian men's singles player to win a worlds medal.

Aug 24, 2019 5:24 pm (IST)

A delicate drop shot and an error from Momota and Sai Praneeth is trying to get to at least a respectable scoreline here.

Game 2: Praneeth 8-18 Momota. The Japanese took the first game 21-13

Aug 24, 2019 5:21 pm (IST)

It is becoming more and more difficult for Praneeth! Momota is playing with precision and is keeping things extremely tight here. Praneeth is not being able to find a way at all.

Game 2: Praneeth 5-15 Momota. The Japanese took the first game 21-13

Aug 24, 2019 5:17 pm (IST)

It's all been Momota in the second game so far. Praneeth has found it extremely hard to break Momota's defence and his attacking play has been full of errors. Momota is running away at the moment.

Game 2: Praneeth 3-11 Momota. The Japanese took the first game 21-13

Aug 24, 2019 5:16 pm (IST)

Praneeth finally gets another point. Momota won five straight points before Praneeth was able to execute a perfect smash to earn a point off the world No.1. The Japanese is still calling the shots here.

Game 2: Praneeth 3-9 Momota. The Japanese took the first game 21-13

Aug 24, 2019 5:13 pm (IST)

A big miss from Praneeth that! That was a golden chance for the Indian. He set himself up brilliantly by stretching Momota on his forehand but missed the line completely with his smash. Such misses will hurt Praneeth against the world No.1.

Game 2: Praneeth 2-5 Momota. Momota took the first game 21-13

Aug 24, 2019 5:10 pm (IST)

Excellent play from Sai Praneeth. He uses a flat stroke deep into Momota forehand to set himself up for a big smash. He goes down-the-line with his smash and wins the points.

Game 2: Praneeth 2-1 Momota. The Japanese took the first game 21-13

Aug 24, 2019 5:06 pm (IST)

That was a bright start from Praneeth but after the mid-game interval, Momota took full control of the proceedings with his aggression and dominated all the rallies to take points at will. Praneeth made far too many errors in the second half of the first game for his own good. Praneeth will have to come from behind now if he is to win this one.

Game 1: Praneeth 13-21 Momota

Aug 24, 2019 5:03 pm (IST)

Finding winners like that could help! Praneeth variates his strokeplay well and is able to find a good cross-court smash to win an important point.

However, Momota is staying tight here and Praneeth is not asserting as much as he requires to, he needs to be more aggressive against Momota to be able to win points and put the world No.1 under pressure. Too many errors creeping in for Praneeth at the moment.

Game 1: Praneeth 12-19 Momota

Aug 24, 2019 5:00 pm (IST)

Good attacking play from Momota. After the break, Momota has been taking Praneeth around the court well to draw errors from the Indian. Praneeth needs to concentrate really hard here as the world No.1 is pulling away.

Game 1: Praneeth 10-15 Momota

Aug 24, 2019 4:58 pm (IST)

Kento Momota executes his favourite down-the-line smash to take a slender 11-10 lead at the break in the first game. Praneeth has done well so far to keep the world No.1 in check.

Game 1: Praneeth 10-11 Momota

Aug 24, 2019 4:57 pm (IST)

Brilliant defence from Sai Praneeth. He is smashed at twice by Momota and Praneeth dives and sends the shuttle so close to the net that the Japanese just cannot reach it.

Game 1: Praneeth 10-10 Momota

Aug 24, 2019 4:55 pm (IST)

Momota is beginning to find his rhythm here. For the past two rallies, he has upped the pace and has reaped benefits of the same. Praneeth, however, is not far behind as he is stretching Momota to all corners of the court well.

Game 1: Praneeth 9-9 Momota

Aug 24, 2019 4:52 pm (IST)

Momota takes the lead for the first time in the match! Momota makes an excellent defence to Praneeth's smash down the line and then reacts brilliantly to the Indian's flat stroke and smashes his way to win the point.

Game 1: Praneeth 6-7 Momota

Aug 24, 2019 4:51 pm (IST)

Momota draws level! A cross court half-smash from Momota to get himself 4-5 and then Praneeth sends the shuttle wide rather easily to let Momota come on level terms.

Game 1: Praneeth 5-5 Momota

Aug 24, 2019 4:47 pm (IST)

First point in the bag for Momota. He plays a brilliant around the net backhand drop and it's too much for Praneeth to pick at the net.

Game 1: Praneeth 2-1 Momota

Aug 24, 2019 4:46 pm (IST)

Sai Praneeth serve-starts the semi-final against Kento Momota. He constructs a good point and smashes hard at the net to earn the first point.

Game 1: Praneeth 1-0 Momota

Aug 24, 2019 4:42 pm (IST)

Kento Momota and Sai Praneeth have made their way to the court. The toss is done and Praneeth won it and chose to serve. The two players will warm up for a bit now before the action begins.

Aug 24, 2019 4:37 pm (IST)

The women's doubles semi-final between Japan's Yuki Fukushima-Sayaka Hirota and China's Yue Du-Yinhui Li is over and the Japanese beat their opponents 21-11, 21-17 to reach the final.

Up next, Sai Praneeth takes on Kento Momota!

Aug 24, 2019 4:32 pm (IST)

Like Sai Praneeth, Kento Momota has not dropped a game en route to the semi-final as well. While Praneeth has spent 190 minutes on court, Momota has been on court for just 160 minutes, half an hour less than the Indian. Here's his journey to the final.

Aug 24, 2019 4:29 pm (IST)

In the first match of the day, PV Sindhu outplayed China's Chen Yufei to book her place in her third successive World Championships final. A commanding performance from the Indian that! Read all about the match here.

Aug 24, 2019 4:17 pm (IST)

India's Sai Praneeth is yet to drop a game in the World Championships. Praneeth has spent a total of 192 minutes on court in his four matches so far and none of his matches went over an hour.

Aug 24, 2019 4:13 pm (IST)

Here are the results of all the past meetings between Sai Praneeth and Kento Momota:

Aug 24, 2019 4:08 pm (IST)

Kento Momota leads Sai Praneeth 3-2 in their head-to-head record. While Praneeth beat Momota the first two times they faced back in 2013, the Japanese has got the better of the Indian the last three times they have met in BWF World Championships 2018, Singapore Open 2019 and Japan Open 2019.

Aug 24, 2019 4:06 pm (IST)

Sai Praneeth faces the massive task of upstaging world No.1 and defending champion Kento Momota in the semi-finals of BWF World Championships. Can the Indian complete an upset?

Praneeth vs Momota is the repeat of last World Championships quarter-final where the Indian lost 12-21, 12-21. Praneeth will look for a massive upset and will want to turn around the results that he has faced in their past three meetings.

In their head-to-head record, Praneeth trails 2-3 against the Japanese but the Indian has lost the last three times they have met, including as recently as Japan Open 2019. However, in the Singapore Open earlier this year, Praneeth took a game off Momota and he will look to take the match this time around.

Praneeth has shown great physical strength and attacking accuracy this World Championships and he will need to be at the top of his game if he is to beat Momota.

"I need to prepare for the semi-final. We have a 3-2 head-to-head record. But that won't matter now. It will be who plays better on the day," Praneeth had said after his quarter-final win.